The Eagle's Quill

In 1995 scientists turned the Hubble space telescope towards a corner of space not thought to contain anything. A space that’s no bigger than an inch in our viewing if we hold our finger out at arm’s length. This was a big risk because of the enormous expense involved in using Hubble for something that might not even show them anything.

Not only did it show them something, they witnessed, for the first time in human history, 10,000 previously unknown galaxies, each one containing hundreds of billions of stars. That’s right—every speck in the image is not a star but a complete galaxy. And likely every square inch of our view of space has an equal amount of galaxies in it.

Have you ever sewed something that had a mistake in it, but it wouldn’t show so you didn’t worry about it? Note that God put all this in place billions of years before human eyes would ever see it. Earthlings saw it only 22 years ago. Why do you think he did that? I think perhaps one reason is that he wants us to know what he is capable of. This God of infinite power is the same one who helps us all the time, every day, with the tiniest and biggest of concerns. He is the one who remembers his promises to us.

He is an omnipresent God—he is everywhere. He is an omnipotent God—he is all-powerful. He is an omniscient God—he knows all. The same God who breathed life into the universe and flung these billions of galaxies into their positions billions of years before we would ever set eyes on them 22 years ago, is the same God who cares about your littlest concern as well as your biggest problems.

No, he does not want you to suffer with these things. He wants you to come to him. Actually I think you don’t have to go to him, he’s already there. He wants you to accept his power in your life. You can’t find that kind of power anywhere else. You might feel like you’re alone, or that nothing is happening to help you. But you are never, ever alone. And there are things constantly happening behind the scenes in your behalf. A powerful God who knows all has already started lining up solutions to problems you haven’t even had yet.

What miracles have you experienced that by rights shouldn’t have happened?

I’m excited and very humbled to announce that I have been named Writer of the Year for 2017 by the Utah Valley Legends, a chapter of the League of Utah Writers! What a fun journey it’s been over the past several months as I’ve gotten to know this awesome group. This is where I shared, for the first time, my ongoing rough draft of The New Wine Baptist Church Chronicles with people I had not previously met. My nervousness was soon dispelled and we are critiquing each other’s writing all the way to huge success. Thank you, Utah Valley Legends, for being my first audience and for helping me with ideas that will make my work even better.

I would also like to thank my very supportive family, including David Davis who told me for five years running that this book would be spectacular and I needed to write it. You called it, David. I hope you’re proud of me.

Here is the bio that the Utah Valley Legends posted:

Shelly Davis is a native of Florida who now makes her home in Utah. Her professional experience includes 11 years as a network news editor with a national press clipping bureau and five years as a movie reviewer with a Tennessee newspaper. Currently a freelance editor, she is the owner of Eagle Eye Edits & Critiques, which works with clients worldwide.

She formerly volunteered as a literacy specialist, served as a judge for children’s literature and poetry recitation competitions, and founded a local book club for which she taught creative writing, hosted meet-the-author nights and other events, and spearheaded a book collection drive for a new young mothers school.

Shelly’s western novels Eagle Shadow and Eagle Rising are a reflection of her keen interest in Old West history and Native American culture. She first created the characters and story of Eagle Shadow when she was 15 years old. She is currently writing a Southern Baptist comedy, which may or may not be based on true events, for as she says, “Truth is strangely like fiction.” Readers of her books who didn’t know better would never guess that the half-Cheyenne Nate Hunter and Tennessee Pastor Eugene Romans were channeled by the same person.

Married to fine art photographer/artist/antiques dealer David “Harley” Davis from 1994 till his death in 2016, they are the parents of two sons, who were homeschooled by their mom from kindergarten through 12th grade. Taylor is now in college, majoring in filmmaking with an emphasis on writing and directing, and Tristan runs his own graphic design/illustrating business.

When she’s not writing, Shelly enjoys reading (of course!), listening to music of all kinds, watching movies, traveling, cooking, visiting museums and art galleries filled with old things, and doing yoga, all while simultaneously eating chocolate. Discussing homeschooling is actually fun for her (she’s weird that way). And she loves to observe people (only in public places) and catch snippets of strangers’ phone conversations. Others call that eavesdropping, but to her it’s character research and is very important.

Time for an update! It’s been a different and unusual kind of year for our family after losing my husband and the boys’ dad last summer, lots of feelings to deal with while trying to find our new normal, establishing new traditions while reflecting on and honoring old ones. I’m quite proud of how our family is transitioning to the new route.

For now, I am working part-time where I used to long ago. But one of my immediate goals is to grow my editing business and provide stellar service to many more clients. (You’ll want to visit the page for Eagle Eye and learn about all the services available.)

I have some fantastic plans for my Eagle Shadow series in the future, but…patience, patience. My current creative project is a Southern Baptist comedy book. My inspiration for this project is a secret only a few people know! But suffice to say (or is it ‘sufficeth to say’ or ‘suffice it to say’? Not gonna research it now. Pick your favorite.) you’re gonna just love Pastor Eugene Romans and his colorful congregation. I have been attending a writers critique group since last fall, and so far they have loved what they’ve heard of it. Their great comments and laughter at all the right parts have been encouraging me—or shall we say egging me on. It’s been a great experience as well to hear their creative works read aloud and to learn how to critique. It makes us all better writers. I highly recommend that all authors find such a group.

I’ve also had the opportunity to read a lot more books than I’ve had in recent years (books of my choice, not for homeschool prep). Some of my favorites have been: a couple Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (you see me advancing in age-level as I go!), Lake Wobegon Days, The Secret, rereading The Jackrabbit Factor, and I’m currently on my way through Agatha Christie’s The ABC Murders. My two most favorite and life-transforming books I’ve read this year (for obvious reasons) are: Proof of Heaven by Dr. Eben Alexander and Talking to Heaven by James Van Praagh, both #1 New York Times bestsellers. What amazing books about the ‘other side’.

And recently, my boys and I realized a bucket list dream when we spent two weeks touring London and Paris. For purposes of this blog, I will just mention a couple of our literary adventures: the Treasures of the British Library exhibit where we saw the Gutenberg Bible, the Magna Carta, and many other historical writings dating to the 300s A.D., and the famed Shakespeare & Company bookstore in Paris where we squeezed through tight hallways lined with tons of books and saw the tumbleweeds (writers-in-residence) at work. It was truly a wonderful gift for us to have this opportunity together and to make better memories than last year at this time of year. We came home with a bigger-world perspective and new resolve going forward. Till next time…

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about things in my life that have come full circle, and this month saw the conclusion of another very, very significant full circle. We had the last day of our Davis Academy homeschool, EVER, with Tristan graduating from 12th grade. Our last day of school each June has always been a game day and pizza lunch. This year I didn’t even think to get a pizza and I had to leave for work at 1:30, so it was an abbreviated game day. Taylor was to be home in the morning, though, and when I informed him it was the last day of homeschool ever, he wanted to join in. So we played Yahtzee, three rounds of Boggle, and six rounds (two apiece) of Balderdash, a favorite we’ve done every year. We threw together a lunch of canned chili, saltine crackers, and peach smoothie. And after the last game, we yelled our cheer that we’ve always ended game day with: “No more pencils, no more books, no more teacher’s nefarious looks.” Then Taylor quietly said, “And thus ends homeschool.” And that was it, just like that one of the greatest experiences of my life was over.

So speaking of full circles, I remembered my very first day of homeschool, August 21, 2000 in Tennessee when Taylor started kindergarten. I woke up that day with butterflies in my stomach. I had planned and prepared for years (fleshing out a curriculum for kindergarten through 12th grade when he was only two!), and now the day was finally here! Of course, kindergarten days were short and very simple—I had just worked myself up psychologically I guess. And I bet after our short first day was over, I probably spent the rest of the day going over it in my head again and again, reliving my little success and eager to do it again the next day. What completely different situations between the first and the last days—different homes in different states, no David here, me going to work every day, Taylor going to BYU, and Tristan doing school on his own. And that first day was so all-consuming to me. It was the absolutely biggest, most important thing in my life that day. I had no other job, I never even made any to-do lists. But the last day crept up on me with hardly any notice. I had to remind myself to squeeze some games onto my to-do list, while my mind was clouded with a million other things.

It seems that the last day should have had more fanfare than it did. I didn’t tell anyone at all about it because I knew it was a big deal only to me. And for that reason I wanted to hang onto the day for as long as I could. Because from recent experience, I knew what would happen. Soon it would become ‘yesterday’, then ‘the day before yesterday’, then way too soon it would seem like long ago. The whole 17 years would seem like a blip that flew by in a second. But don’t good times always fly by?

So it’s time to enter a new phase, to begin a new full circle for all of us, and with the preparation we’ve all had (because I’ve now been educated through the 12th grade three times!), it’ll be exciting to see where our separate and collective circles take us.

The world lost a great poet, photographer, and artist this year when my husband, David “Harley” Davis, passed away in July from complications resulting from leukemia. How I miss his talent and creativity, his uncanny ability to find and bring home the unusual and rare antiques, and introduce the rest of us to ideas and worlds we never knew existed. While going through his many treasures and writings this summer, it was especially touching for me to come across poems he’d written that I’d never read before, including this one, a message directly to me from eternal worlds. What better way to pay tribute on my blog, I thought, than by sharing his own words, written October 3, 2014 from his hospital bed, at the beginning of his treatments. These words have been a secret treasure to me these last few months, but it’s time to share them with others now. I’ll let his own words take it from here:

I have been part of an online creative accountability group for two months. Each day we post our goals for the day regarding writing, art, and filmmaking endeavors, with each person addressing his or her own type of creativity. At the end of the day, we report how we did. We also share work, offer critique, and cheer each other on. The best part? The group consists only of the members of my immediate family. We know what each other is working on, and it’s a delight to share details in an exclusive group of those we trust. Sure, our critique may sometimes be subjective, but it is the steadiest critique we receive. It can be a strengthening, empowering process to have those closest in our lives, who are also knowledgeable in what we’re doing, to be the first to vet a project before it moves on to other non-biased panels of experts. But mainly, our group effort was born out of a need for more accountability and accomplishment. And it has worked to that end. We have each made more progress in two months than we had previously done.

If you want to start such a group, use whatever medium works for you. We use the Facebook private inbox feature. Although we currently live in the same house, we wanted something that felt “official”, yet we wanted it to be simple enough that we would likely stick with it. Accountability is vital in the creative fields where much of our work is done alone. Look for a person or group wherever you can find one, on or offline, and don’t discount those closest to you. You don’t even have to be working on similar projects to gain the benefit of reporting your progress to another.

“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” ~ John 14:26

I’m all about lifelong reading, studying, and learning, but I have discovered another really cool reason for doing so. As a spiritual person, I believe that one of the purposes of the Holy Spirit is to bring things to our remembrance when we need them. I also believe we have some responsibility here. Experts say that all the things we read and learn stay permanently in our minds, albeit the subconscious mind. I don’t always believe those unnamed experts, but in this case I do. Our brains are computers that take in information from the moment we’re born, catalog it, and file it away, and thankfully, these computers never run out of memory. Oh, you might think you run out of memory (it does often seem that way), but that’s only because the information has left your conscious mind (the 10% we use) and lodged itself in your subconscious mind (the other 90%). But the information is there, every piece of information you’ve ever taken in, every great (and not-so-great) thought you’ve ever had. The Holy Spirit simply brings things to our remembrance, from our subconscious to our conscious minds, when we need them. BUT, he can only bring things to our remembrance that have been put into our minds to begin with, so the more we study and gain wisdom, and life experience, the more he has to draw from to help us. Like the law of attraction says, every single thing we need, we already have! Is that not exciting?

As Oscar season approaches us again, I want to draw attention to a fine movie that was nominated last year for best picture, an independently made film that had its debut at the Sundance Film Festival and went on to receive critical and box office acclaim. “Whiplash” is the story of a young, talented drummer, Andrew (Miles Teller), studying at a music conservatory, and his merciless mentor, Fletcher (J.K. Simmons), whose methods of drawing out the best in his students venture into abusive territory (think Simon Cowell with singing contestants, except add blood). Although audience members may sway back and forth between respect and annoyance, and dare I say, amusement at Fletcher’s extreme personality and methods, I know of several people, myself included, who report that the movie ends up inspiring the creativity in us. We need that toughness, I think, to bring out what simply cannot be discovered in us with just family and close friends telling us, “You’re great. You’re the best.” That kind of biased critique is what leads the unsuspecting to embarrass themselves in front of crowds, or to self-publish books that have not been vetted by the professional world.

I always am in favor of accepting honest and helpful, yes, even brutal critique. Of course, it’s hard, but if you want to be a professional, you will have much harder things to deal with in your career than critique that might hurt. Suck it up and take your medicine!

There is a fine line, though, between helpful critique and flat-out abuse. The kind dished out by Fletcher would break the dreams of the most flimsy creators. I’m not sure that that’s a good thing. Many who might give up under those circumstances may actually be geniuses in waiting who need not only the brutal critique but also some uplifting encouragement. My feelings about Fletcher’s methods can be summed up by addressing one telling scene near the end of the movie. Fletcher famously says, “There are no two words in the English language more harmful than, ‘Good job.’” I would say that the seven most powerful words in the English language are, “Good job…but it could be better.”

Happy New Year to everyone from the Eagle’s Quill! I trust that we’re all making some writing-related resolutions and plowing ahead with them. Let’s get started this year with some website recommendations. These are just a few of the many out there that are excellent helps for writers. These are my personal favorites, and I bet you will gain fantastic insight from them as well.

Novel Writing Help – novel-writing-help.com – “Writing a novel just got easier” they promise on their front page. Yep, it works as they say. Over 200 articles on everything from craft to industry subjects, and all totally free!

Authors Think Tank – foreverwriters.com – They’re havin’ some fun over there. I love how many of their articles draw on well-known books and movies to teach a concept.

Authors Publish Magazine – authorspublish.com – A free email magazine for writers. Sign up for news regarding the latest publishers accepting submissions, as well as writing help and industry news.

Sprint Writers Central – sprintwriters.blogspot.com – Need some accountability and camaraderie with other writers? Use this site to communicate with writing buddies and set some goals for writing sprints. They tell you right on the front page how it works.

Have a great writing year, and feel free to share your favorite sites with us in the comments.